To keep you safe
by Ananya-Talvi
Summary: When the team is sent on a rescue mission, Sam doesn't know what's awaiting her. When she finds out the presumed prisoner is Thor of the Asgard, she realizes a few things. Just a one shot. Set somewhere during 'Revelations' (but doesn't really care for canon).


When we stepped through the gate, I instantly knew it had been a mistake to even come here. We were under fire in an instant and could only save our lives by finding shelter behind the DHD (Daniel) and some rocks loosely lying around on the ground (the rest of us). It was dark all around us, so I assumed the Jaffa were firing on luck alone, because they could have hardly seen us in the brief moment we emerged from the event horizon.

'What the hell are we even doing here?' I shouted out angrily, putting on my night-vision goggles, grunting about the impressive amount of Jaffa I got presented with as soon as I could see.

'The Tok'ra say there are prisoners here, Sam.' Daniel reminded me.

'Can't they free their prisoners themselves?' I heard Jack growl somewhere to the right. His personal ongoing quarrel with the Tok'ra was all too understandable, especially at times like this, but we didn't have a choice whatsoever. 'Or are they afraid they'd get their butts fried by those Jaffa?'

'There's a chance, yeah.' Daniel mumbled, carefully closing up on us.

'Do we know whom we're actually looking for?' I wanted to know doubtfully.

'Nope.' Jack sneered. 'Seems we're in for the guessing game.'

We ducked behind some more rocks and slowly advanced in a direction that led us away from the Jaffa. Those were either stupid or just didn't want to disturb their nightshift looking for whomever had passed through the gate (or aid those we had shot already in the moment of surprise).

'There's a camp about three miles from here.' I heard Teal'C shout somewhere from the left. 'I assume the prisoners are kept there.'

'Alright.' Jack decided. 'Let's go. The sooner we get there the sooner we get out.'

Thanks to the night-sight goggles, it wasn't that hard to make our way through a quite thick forest. I still couldn't find a reason why those Jaffa hadn't come after us, but sometimes luck is a great companion. Wondering about why the Tok'ra didn't go for their missing comrades themselves, I followed the others in the estimated direction of the camp.

After a while of too many branches of trees and bushes against my cheeks, we finally arrived at the back of what was most obviously a Jaffa camp. I didn't even want to wonder what the Jaffa were actually here for, because the Goa'Uld rarely had anything good in mind.

'Any idea how to get inside?' Jack asked, his voice low.

'How about the usual way?' Daniel asked sarcastically. 'Shoot everyone, get in there, get out there, leave?'

I couldn't help but snicker, but stifled it best I could. On the other hand, when confronted with Jaffa, this was often the only way to reach a destination.

Eventually, Jack ordered Daniel and me to sneak inside the camp while they were distracting the guards, so we waited a brief moment until they were under heavy fire and made our way into the camp, keeping in the shadows, taking cover here and there, and not making the tiniest of sound. We made it to what I supposed was the central building. It was, indeed, an actual building that had already been there long before the Jaffa had occupied this planet. At the entrance there was only one Jaffa on guard. It seemed our distraction worked pretty well, otherwise there surely would have been more than one of them. I sneaked up to the Jaffa and stunned him with my zat weapon before he even realized I was there.

'They're Osiris' Jaffa.' Daniel remarked, taking a brief glance at the tattoo on the Jaffa's forehead. 'I didn't know she keeps her prisoners on a planet. After all, she's got a fancy Ha'tak from Anubis.'

'Maybe she thinks it's safer to keep important prisoners out of the usual line of fire.' I assumed.

'Well, following that logic, the one we're looking for must been pretty important.' Daniel replied. 'Though, I haven't heard about any missing Tok'ra leaders.'

'You know them.' I objected. 'They wouldn't even share information with us, if their lives depended on it. I've never met people more secretive than them.'

Meanwhile, we were advancing down a small stairway, following the assumption that a cellar room was the perfect place to keep a prisoner. We, indeed, found a number of barred cells down there, but they all seemed empty.

Daniel stepped forward carefully in case of Jaffa activities, but the whole cellar seemed to be completely abandoned. I was already thinking about leaving, when I suddenly heard Daniel gasp.

'The prisoner isn't a Tok'ra.' He whispered, peaking into the cell farthest away from the entrance. I closed up to him and followed his gaze to a small figure that was anything but humanoid.

'It's an Asgard.' I said matter-of-factly. 'Why didn't the Asgard come and get him themselves?'

'Dunno.' Daniel replied. 'Maybe they don't even know he's there. Assuming him dead after an attack, or anything like that.'

I gave the small figure that was cowering in the farthest corner of the cell a compassionate glance. Thanks to several encounters with the Asgard, I was already used to their frail looking bodies, but this one was frailer than any of them I'd ever seen, completely emaciated and on the verge of dying.

'I gotta get in there.' I mumbled. 'He needs help urgently, otherwise he'll be dead in no time.'

'Step aside, SamathaCarter.' I heard Teal'C's voice from somewhere behind and followed his suggestion right away. It seemed that there hadn't been all too many Jaffa and the distraction Jack and he had started had gone well.

Teal'C smashed the cell's door to pieces with his staff weapon, so I could advance inside carefully, trying not to scare the prisoner.

I cowered next to the frail body that was cowering in the corner, unmoving, but obviously shaking with fear. He glared at me unseeingly with his large black eyes. Didn't they say the eyes were the windows to the soul? Well, through those windows I saw a broken and tortured soul whose owner didn't know what to think or how to react on me. He'd obviously seen hell since they'd caught him and was now too weak to even try and back away.

'My name's Samantha Carter.' I said softly, reaching out my hand for the frail figure. 'We're here to your rescue. Would you mind telling me your name?'

The Asgard kept glaring at me, trying to make up his mind about me. The darkness around made it impossible to me to distinguish him from any other Asgard I'd come across so far. They all looked too similar through human eyes.

He tried to speak but failed, his voice hoarse from deprivation of water. Instead he put his hand in mine, wrapped his long slender fingers around it, while he looked at me pleadingly.

'It's alright.' I whispered to him and made a decision.

'Guys, I'm going to carry him.' I let my team know. 'He won't be able to walk in the condition he's in.'

I shifted and got up, lifting the frail Asgard body from the ground to carry him away and out of this dreadful place.

'Carter…' I heard a tiny voice near my ear the moment I wanted to turn and leave. Obviously, the Asgard had found his voice again. A voice that was far too familiar, a voice I had heard so often in the past few years.

'Thor?' I asked, unbelieving. How the heck did the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet end up in a place like this?

He just tilted his head and I held him even closer. Of course, we hadn't heard from him for a while, but then again, we hadn't heard anything from any Asgard recently, assuming they were still busy fighting their war against the Replicators.

Jack closed up to me, his gaze just as unbelieving as mine.

'Thor, buddy?' He asked. 'What…'

'Jack, we should hurry to get out of here.' Now Daniel interfered. 'We'd better leave before every single Jaffa on this planet will be after us!'

We hurried outside and I ran as fast as I could with the heavy load on my arms. Thor was, of course, quite lightweight compared to humans, but carrying him was exhausting nevertheless. And I had to carry him, because in his momentary condition he wouldn't have been able to walk a single step.

What surprised me the most was how much he clung to me. I'd always been of the opinion the Asgard feared to be touched. Too well did I remember that one time I'd hugged Thor spontaneously and jerked away from him just as quickly when I'd realized how frail the Asgard's body actually was.

We went out of the camp in a haste, hearing heavy footsteps all around when the Jaffa realized what we'd done. There was a lot of shouting and shooting, but I did notice neither of them, my only thought was to keep Thor safe from any further harm. They'd harmed him enough already. I pledged an oath to myself to kill Osiris with my bare hands if I'd ever get the chance to.

When the heck had I started to have feelings for Thor? I honestly didn't know, would maybe never know, but I recognized the heaviness on my heart correctly.

I saw Daniel punching our home address into the DHD, heard Teal'C and Jack covering my back, shooting everything they had as they went. Keeping Thor safe was not only my own interest, after all.

All the time did I hold Thor close and he held on to me with all the strength he still had, but I noticed that he got weaker by the minute.

'Stay with me, Thor, you hear?' I kept talking to him. 'You won't leave me. Not now.'

I had almost closed up to the just opening gate. Only a few more steps and we'd be safe, Thor would be safe. I just had to find some more strength in me.

I didn't even hear the shot, just felt the pain. I don't even remember to have fallen before I blacked out.

xxx

The first thing I noticed while waking up, was the throbbing pain in my head. Luckily, I was still alive, but I had no idea whether that was good or not. I jerked one eye open and, to my utter relief, recognized the familiar ugly colour that was so characteristic for the SGC's infirmary. I was alive and back home. It seemed like I'd miraculously survived the direct hit from a staff weapon. I could only hope we'd all made it back home safely.

Then I remembered….

Thor.

I was wide awake in an instant, glancing around frantically and feeling at ease just a moment later. The Asgard was right beside me, cowering in a much too big chair, soundly asleep. He still looked bruised and sick, but he was alive. At least, he was alive.

I'd loved to keep him sleeping, because he'd surely been through a lot back on the Jaffa planet, but I simply couldn't exist one more minute without just talking to him. I wanted to know if he was alright.

'Thor?' I whispered softly, intending to not startle him. He was awake in an instant.

He climbed from the chair carefully and hurried over to me, his large black eyes transfixed on me.

'Colonel Carter.' He said, his voice small and still a little hoarse. 'Are you alright?'

'I wanted to ask you the same.' I replied with a smile.

'You've saved my life.' He remarked. 'You've almost lost your own life because of me.'

'It's been worth it.' I told him with a smile. 'You're safe now.'

He tilted his head, obviously not knowing how what to say next.

'Why have you been on that dreadful planet in the first place?' I therefore helped him out.

'Osiris had attacked a planet that was protected by the Treaty.' Thor explained. 'Obviously, her Ha'Tak had been upgraded with advanced weaponry, provided by Anubis. The weapons of the Beliskner weren't able to penetrate the Ha'Tak's shields. Osiris destroyed my ship and took me captive. They brought me to the place where you found me. Osiris wanted to hand me over to Anubis anytime soon. She, of course, took the chance and tried to retrieve information about the Asgard from me. It was…' His voice broke and he looked to the floor.

'What have they done to you?' I asked worriedly, still worried about how frail and bruised he still looked.

'I don't think it's necessary to discuss Goa'Uld torture methods now.' He replied evasively. 'I take it you've encountered them yourselves at some occasions.'

'Sadly enough, yes.' I acknowledged, again feeling a wave of compassion washing over me. All members of SG1 had made contact with all sorts of Goa'Uld torturing throughout the years, and I remembered all too well the pain and exhaustion. It was almost lethal for a human, so how much did this small Asgard have to endure? How did he even manage to get out of there without being mentally broken or dead?

I reached out for him, took his hand in mine when he offered it. Biting my lip, I examined him thoroughly. They had broken him. All the pride I'd always noticed in his demeanour was gone.

'Thor…'

He put a slender grey finger on my mouth and shook his head slightly. 'Please, let's not talk about the things that were.' I couldn't resist the pleading in his eyes.

I carefully sat up in my bed, ignoring the throbbing headache and the nausea, and took the small Asgard in a firm embrace. When he leaned into it desperately, I knew the damage the Goa'Uld had done.

'We can withstand so much…' I said softly.

'…but then there comes a time when it's too much and we'll never be the same again.' Thor completed my sentence. 'I'm not the same anymore….'

'I know.' I whispered.

He climbed onto my bed and snuggled up to me, holding on to me in a desperate embrace. I wasn't ashamed of the tears I cried for him, of the helpless anger that was boiling in my stomach, of the unfairness of a universe that allowed a filthy Goa'Uld to destroy a person like Thor.

Maybe he wouldn't be able to a warrior anymore, but I still could be one, and I gave him a silent promise that I'd fight all his wars for him.


End file.
